TOKYO—Of all the Tokyo Game Show attendees who visited the Kinect booth, one salaryman in a button-down shirt stood out. He jumped into the Dance Central game with gusto, busting out crazy moves in his patent-leather shoes, literally going leaps and bounds beyond what the dance game required.

A small crowd gathered to watch his moves. At one point, he did a handstand in front of the Xbox 360 camera controller. He was making Kinect look like barrels of fun.

But did the man, who gave his name as Yoshida, plan to buy the upcoming game and do “The Humpty Dance” at home?

“No,” Yoshida said. “I don’t have an Xbox. There are no games I want for it.”

A few months from now, Microsoft will celebrate its 10th anniversary of not being able to sell many videogames in Japan. The company is enjoying record-high sales in the United States and Europe with its redesigned Xbox 360 and the Kinect motion controller. But it remains locked in a struggle to make its console appealing to one of the world’s biggest markets for gaming.

Aside from an Xbox 360 roster filled with the kind of shooting games that historically don’t do so well in Japan, the biggest thing holding back Kinect might be a simple issue of real estate: The unique sensor, which lets players use their bodies to control the on-screen action, requires a lot of physical space to operate—and that’s something a lot of Japanese people just don’t have.

A history of failure

Microsoft has had no luck in Japan since it launched the original Xbox there in February 2002. It was the exact opposite of what the country wanted out of a game machine—a giant, noisy, power-sucking box with a massive controller and nothing but Western games, like first-person shooters, that were unpopular with gamers here. The marketing, the design, the content—everything was out of whack with what Japan wanted.

On paper, few of those things apply to the Xbox 360, which is probably why it has sold three times as much as the first Xbox. But even these sales numbers are relatively tiny. Since its launch in 2005, the Xbox 360 has only sold a pitiful 1.5 million units in Japan compared to PlayStation 3’s 6.7 million and Wii’s 11 million. In fact, sales of the console in Japan linger barely above those of the ancient PlayStation 2.

The Kinect doesn’t seem to be helping the problem. The controller, with its camera and microphone sensors, “doesn’t fit with Japanese culture,” a player named Takizawa told Wired.com at the Microsoft booth. He thought Michael Jackson: The Experience looked like a lot of fun, but questioned whether he’d have room to play it in his typically small living space.

Another gamer named Takumi, who is a student at Kanagawa Institute of Technology, said he could probably get a Kinect into his place, although his friend Akira said “no way.” Both of them are PlayStation 3 owners, but neither owns an Xbox. “It’s too expensive,” said Takumi. A Kinect alone costs ¥15,000.

The ironic thing about Microsoft’s struggles to sell Kinect to an apathetic Japanese audience is that the company says Japan’s gamemakers are coming up with the best concepts for the motion controller.

Two of the Microsoft-funded games are on display at the booth: Masaya Matsuura, the popular creator of the megahit PlayStation game Parappa the Rapper, is making a first-person haunted-house adventure. Suda 51, creator of ultraviolent action games like Shadows of the Damned, is contributing Demonic Pitch, in which you play a baseball player that fights monsters with his killer fastballs.

These are clever, original games from talented designers. But Microsoft has been down this road before, commissioning the original creators of Japan’s popular RPGs to make Xbox-exclusive games. The strategy didn’t work. Eventually the company successfully lobbied Square Enix to release Final Fantasy XIII on Xbox 360, as well as PlayStation 3. The incredibly popular series barely moved the needle.

Sometimes it seems like it doesn’t matter what Microsoft creates—Japan’s gamers just aren’t that into Xbox games.

The craziest ideas

Haunt, created by Tokyo developer Nana-On-Sha, is a spooky game set in a haunted house

Richard Newman, head of Microsoft's game-development studios in Japan, spearheaded the move to get well-known Japanese designers making Kinect games.

"Kinect is an interesting paradigm to design for," Newman said at an event Wednesday at which Demonic Pitch was introduced. "When you break away from the controller, there are a lot of conventions that get broken. A lot of the early itches that we got were controller games adapted to Kinect. What we really wanted was for creators to think outside the box."

The pitches that Microsoft Game Studios got from Japanese designers, Newman said, were some of the most unique and unexpected. They looked at several prototypes and tried to pick the "craziest" ones.

"These are core games for core gamers," Newman said.

Masaya Matsuura's Haunt was one of the chosen few. It's a first-person game that attempts to replicate the feeling of being spooked by a haunted house at an amusement park. Wired.com tried the game in developer Nana-On-Sha's Tokyo office, in a small room that, if you push all the furniture out of the way, is just barely big enough to play Kinect games.

"Haunt is not a game that requires a big space," Matsuura said; players don't have to move their bodies in extreme ways. But, he added, when he wants to watch an employee play the game, he has to lie down prone in the room to avoid accidentally being picked up by the Kinect sensor.

It's probably no coincidence, then, that even the Japanese gamemakers are aiming their products at the global audience. Nana-On-Sha's Matsuura thinks that working alongside Japanese creators is important if Microsoft wants to make the Xbox 360 more of a success in the territory.

But, he says, "the biggest market for the Xbox is the US, so we have to concentrate on the English-speaking territories." Haunt was built in English and translated into Japanese later.

So even if their countrymen don't want the Kinect, the hands-free controller is becoming so popular in the United States and Europe that the games might still sell. Just not here.

Microsoft's Newman believes that the Kinect, simply by virtue of being a brand-new method of controlling games, could help game creators express truly new ideas.

"The aspirations of the creators were greater than Kinect," he said. "They were ready to break free from some of the constraints they were feeling in the industry. Some ideas were nothing short of philosophical about where they wanted to take things."

Wired.com did speak to one Kinect owner at the Microsoft booth. She was standing with her friends watching Dance Central 2.

"It's fun," she said, "but I hardly use it. I barely have enough room. My back is against the wall."

Did she play any regular games? The kind that use a controller?

"Yes," she said, struggling to remember the name of the game she owned. "What's it called... what's it called... Ha... Halo."

112 Reader Comments

On paper, few of those things apply to the Xbox 360, which is probably why it has sold three times as much as the first Xbox. But even these sales numbers are relatively tiny. Since its launch in 2005, the Xbox 360 has only sold a pitiful 1.5 million units in Japan compared to PlayStation 3’s 6.7 million and Wii’s 11 million. In fact, sales of the console in Japan linger barely above those of the ancient PlayStation 2.

Japanese are completely xenophobic, news at eleven. Seriously, if you walk to local taverns in Japan, you'll see signs that basically say, "Westerner's, fuck off". The only welcoming places in Japan to foreigners, are those that are on Main Street, Japan. Is it any wonder that a "Western" console is doing so horribly in Japan?

Japanese are completely xenophobic, news at eleven. Seriously, if you walk to local taverns in Japan, you'll see signs that basically say, "Westerner's, fuck off". The only welcoming places in Japan to foreigners, are those that are on Main Street, Japan. Is it any wonder that a "Western" console is doing so horribly in Japan?

Kinect is unusable, for space reasons, in my European house. I don't think this is a problem restricted to the US.

Bullshit, see reply above.

Kinect tech specs states you need 8 feet to have optimum recognition. Alot of Japanese housing do not have 8 feet unless they start rearranging their whole furniture layout. You may not have to frail about but you do need the recognition distance.

EDIT : Note comment from the article:

Quote:

"It's fun," she said, "but I hardly use it. I barely have enough room. My back is against the wall."

Kinect is unusable, for space reasons, in my European house. I don't think this is a problem restricted to the US.

Bullshit, see reply above.

Kinect tech specs states you need 8 feet to have optimum recognition. Alot of Japanese housing do not have 8 feet unless they start rearranging their whole furniture layout. You may not have to frail about but you do need the recognition distance.

EDIT : Note comment from the article:

Quote:

"It's fun," she said, "but I hardly use it. I barely have enough room. My back is against the wall."

\

Edited my post to reflect that, DrPizza's experience in his own home is definitely not up for discussion.

Japanese are completely xenophobic, news at eleven. Seriously, if you walk to local taverns in Japan, you'll see signs that basically say, "Westerner's, fuck off". The only welcoming places in Japan to foreigners, are those that are on Main Street, Japan. Is it any wonder that a "Western" console is doing so horribly in Japan?

Depends on the area you are in.

Don't get me wrong. I loved Tokyo when I visited. I just found that the little areas were highly xenophobic. Way more so than other areas of the world I've visited.

edit: By little areas, I mean back alleys that the locals visit. AKA; the norm for peoples' of Japan, rather than visitors.

I think it has more to do with blind patriotism to Sony and Nintendo than due to any failing of Microsoft. In other Asian countries the Xbox has done pretty well.

That, combined with the fact that 90% of 360's and PS3's catalog are identical. Unless you're really, really into Gears of War, Halo, God of War, or Shadow of the Colossus, it doesn't matter which console you own, but you don't need both. Nintendo is smart by focusing on so many of its own must have titles. So if you're an average gamer, you only need 2 of those 3 systems, with the American one being the odd man out in Japan.

No. North America is the largest gaming demographic. Look at console numbers. The PS3 and Wii have much higher numbers outside of North America, yet the 360 has a higher overall install base (outside of the Wii) thanks to NA. Even in these dire times, Americans' have a disgusting amount of disposable income.

The console wars have never been tighter than they are now. I can't wait to see what the next generation brings us.

I think the idea of the kinect is great. I can't wait to see the functionality built into the next gen consoles. While I'm not personally interested in dancing games or tennis games, where I have to jump around like a jack russel terrier, I think the more subtle implementations like voice control and head tracking (Forza 4) could be bring significant improvements to the everyday gaming/media experience. This gen, we're seeing the very first entrance into this sort of control so it goes without saying that the first few years are going to be ham-fisted, unrefined, and gimmicky.

I think the idea of the kinect is great. I can't wait to see the functionality built into the next gen consoles. While I'm not personally interested in dancing games or tennis games, where I have to jump around like a jack russel terrier, I think the more subtle implementations like voice control and head tracking (Forza 4) could be bring significant improvements to the everyday gaming/media experience. This gen, we're seeing the very first entrance into this sort of control so it goes without saying that the first few years are going to be ham-fisted, unrefined, and gimmicky.

I think it's awesome as well. However, till the Kinnect gets the ability to react to individual digits (aka, fingers), it's still just an experiment IMO. Once the refinement happens, it's on!

Japanese are completely xenophobic, news at eleven. Seriously, if you walk to local taverns in Japan, you'll see signs that basically say, "Westerner's, fuck off". The only welcoming places in Japan to foreigners, are those that are on Main Street, Japan. Is it any wonder that a "Western" console is doing so horribly in Japan?

Depends on the area you are in.

Don't get me wrong. I loved Tokyo when I visited. I just found that the little areas were highly xenophobic. Way more so than other areas of the world I've visited.

edit: By little areas, I mean back alleys that the locals visit. AKA; the norm for peoples' of Japan, rather than visitors.

Again depends on the area. I've found Tokyo and Kyoto quite excellent but as I go further rural, I start encountering that kind of resistance. Usually, central area with relatively high population density seems to be more accepting while area surrounding it not so much. This is including the back alley places, excluding areas I know I should stay out of (mugger's alley etc).

EDIT: You REALLY want to stay out of those kind of areas. Also stay out of red light districts. They are like sharks down there.

No. North America is the largest gaming demographic. Look at console numbers. The PS3 and Wii have much higher numbers outside of North America, yet the 360 has a higher overall install base (outside of the Wii) thanks to NA. Even in these dire times, Americans' have a disgusting amount of disposable income.

The console wars have never been tighter than they are now. I can't wait to see what the next generation brings us.

Kinect is unusable, for space reasons, in my European house. I don't think this is a problem restricted to the US.

Bullshit, see reply above. Not that I'm dismissing your experience in your own home.

It wouldn't matter if the Japanese loved the US and everything coming from the US: Kinect is unusable in much of the world. Not because people don't have the interest or the disposable income: because they don't have the space.

No. North America is the largest gaming demographic. Look at console numbers. The PS3 and Wii have much higher numbers outside of North America, yet the 360 has a higher overall install base (outside of the Wii) thanks to NA. Even in these dire times, Americans' have a disgusting amount of disposable income.

The console wars have never been tighter than they are now. I can't wait to see what the next generation brings us.

1 REALLY BIG touch screen.

I think Nintendo is bringing us there with that new gamepad of theirs.

Japanese are completely xenophobic, news at eleven. Seriously, if you walk to local taverns in Japan, you'll see signs that basically say, "Westerner's, fuck off". The only welcoming places in Japan to foreigners, are those that are on Main Street, Japan. Is it any wonder that a "Western" console is doing so horribly in Japan?

And yet I've had the opposite experience... met people on the street, went out to the taverns with them, one even paid for everything without having known me previously. Maybe it wasn't them?

In regards to the article, it's heavily focused on gameplay with no mention of content. Looking at the top 100 selling games of 2009 and 2010 (all I had), it's easy to notice that hi-violence games are much lower in the rankings. Maybe they're not as obsessed with gore as some other countries are, explaining more about the disinterest in FPS?

Kinect is unusable, for space reasons, in my European house. I don't think this is a problem restricted to the US.

Bullshit, see reply above. Not that I'm dismissing your experience in your own home.

It wouldn't matter if the Japanese loved the US and everything coming from the US: Kinect is unusable in much of the world. Not because people don't have the interest or the disposable income: because they don't have the space.

I edited my post to reflect your experience. Sorry if I came of way too harsh. I keep forgetting that everyone does not resemble me.

I can only add mine. I have more space than I need (4,800 sq feet downstairs, and another 4,800 upstairs for my theater room). Space is not an issue for me.

And yet I've had the opposite experience... met people on the street, went out to the taverns with them, one even paid for everything without having known me previously. Maybe it wasn't them?

Same here. Now, try going to the more old school taverns and restaurants. Hit the back alleys and byways. You'll find that older Japanese citizens are highly xenophobic. They're like old-school Southerners. I guess they're like old folks everywhere. I had a similar experience in Sicily.

In regards to the article, it's heavily focused on gameplay with no mention of content. Looking at the top 100 selling games of 2009 and 2010 (all I had), it's easy to notice that hi-violence games are much lower in the rankings. Maybe they're not as obsessed with gore as some other countries are, explaining more about the disinterest in FPS?

No. North America is the largest gaming demographic. Look at console numbers. The PS3 and Wii have much higher numbers outside of North America, yet the 360 has a higher overall install base (outside of the Wii) thanks to NA. Even in these dire times, Americans' have a disgusting amount of disposable income.

The console wars have never been tighter than they are now. I can't wait to see what the next generation brings us.

1 REALLY BIG touch screen.

I think Nintendo is bringing us there with that new gamepad of theirs.

You are thinking far too small. We need full body touch screen. You sort of rub yourself all over the screen to play games on it.

Kinect is unusable, for space reasons, in my European house. I don't think this is a problem restricted to the US.

Bullshit, see reply above. Not that I'm dismissing your experience in your own home.

It wouldn't matter if the Japanese loved the US and everything coming from the US: Kinect is unusable in much of the world. Not because people don't have the interest or the disposable income: because they don't have the space.

I edited my post to reflect your experience. Sorry if I came of way too harsh. I keep forgetting that everyone does not resemble me.

I can only add mine. I have more space than I need (4,800 sq feet downstairs, and another 4,800 upstairs for my theater room). Space is not an issue for me.

When I was in Japan, I had "luxurious" apartment that is about big as my closet in my current NZ home. (And I'm not exaggerating here, the apartment was about 3~4 meters wide at best.)

It's not really xenophobia but a deep cultural divide. It would take to long for me to get into it, but as someone born and raised in Hong Kong, even I don't completely always get the local Chinese culture. The sense of humor is totally different, sarcasm/satire is barely understood by locals. Add to that, I don't get why local SE Asians relate to exaggerated features in animated characters. Quite often in HK, our govt., PSA use animated animals, or bizarre comic situations that to foreigners - myself included since I went to a British school here - that just doesn't make sense. Think about those animated Taiwanese news clips. Also the sexual maturity with locals is completely different: it's not that they're conservative, but rather, almost ignorant and naive, partly due to lack of education and an openness between locals.When 'westerners' use a 'conservative' as a blanket word for East Asian cultural differences, the problem is it dumbs down the significant deeper differences. And Japan is even more 'conservative' then the Taiwanese, HK, Chinese counterparts. There is a big difference in language, humor, etc., that the divide can't be crossed just by translation alone. Which neatly brings me to the next part:Not all games made in Japan are translated or sold to the American market. There are a lot of local Japanese games, that as I mentioned above, is more relatable by the Japanese. Games some American Japan-ophiles may play. A friend of mine here plays Japanese games - I don't get them, but they almost always seem to be turn based or RPGs.

Now Microsoft can have an office in Japan, have local Japanese people there have free reign and create a development environment for local Japanese game developers to develop games for the xBox360, but then keep in mind the size of the Sony gaming office in Japan, and the size of the MS gaming department in Japan?

It's not necessarily xenophobia. Every country I've been to has pockets of xenophobia. The British hate the French and vice versa; some Australians can be racists towards Asians and blacks. The East Asians are racists to everyone including people across the border. I have local Chinese friends that look down on the Chinese from China. Japan isn't any different. However, to reduce the xbox inability to equal the sony PS3 sales in Japan to mere xenophobia is just over-simplification. Culture makes a huge difference.

Think about it: Hollywood action/adventure movies, who are the main heroes? Generally it's some white dude, because America is like 80% caucasian, iirc. Bollywood movies, same thing, all the heroes are Indians. Chinese movies, same. Japanese movies, same. A lot of games produced in the US generally are white protagonists, and I think like the movies, gamers tend to probably want games where they can either relate to the main character, or pretend it's them.

I'd love to see Splinter Cell have an Indian protagonists, instead of Sam Fisher, maybe Apu Krishna; but I'm a self loathing-Indian and I'd be waiting for some spy gadget I'm carrying to inevitably fail, or that some levels would just require me to bribe myself through it instead of using stealth or guns.

edit: to many typos and grammatical errors to fix this early in the morning (6am, Monday, here).

Japanese are completely xenophobic, news at eleven. Seriously, if you walk to local taverns in Japan, you'll see signs that basically say, "Westerner's, fuck off". The only welcoming places in Japan to foreigners, are those that are on Main Street, Japan. Is it any wonder that a "Western" console is doing so horribly in Japan?

Depends on the area you are in.

Don't get me wrong. I loved Tokyo when I visited. I just found that the little areas were highly xenophobic. Way more so than other areas of the world I've visited.

edit: By little areas, I mean back alleys that the locals visit. AKA; the norm for peoples' of Japan, rather than visitors.

Again depends on the area. I've found Tokyo and Kyoto quite excellent but as I go further rural, I start encountering that kind of resistance. Usually, central area with relatively high population density seems to be more accepting while area surrounding it not so much. This is including the back alley places, excluding areas I know I should stay out of (mugger's alley etc).

EDIT: You REALLY want to stay out of those kind of areas. Also stay out of red light districts. They are like sharks down there.

I really think its all situational. I lived in Japan for 2 years on Shikoku teaching English at a junior high. The town I lived in had a population of 11,000. No main street Japan for me. I was lucky enough to have locals show me around and most everywhere I went people were friendly enough. Sure people would stop and stare but they generally wanted to know where you were from and what you thought of the place. I traveled around a lot and never had any real issues in the big or little towns. Nothing like having a teacher outing in the red light district at the nearest big city.

As for games, all the kids I talked to were addicted to monster hunter or wanted to play Wii. The apartment I lived in Japan definitely didn't have enough space for a kinect, and my condo now barely has enough space. I have to move my furniture if I wanted to do multiplayer kinect. The people in Japan could also not like the 360 cuz its noisy and the original xbox didn't do any favors with how big and ugly it was.

I would guess not outright racism or xenophobia but rather just indifference. If a family has a PC, which can play all the RPGs, and possibly a PS system which can play all the games they want to play, why splurge extra for an Xbox which does not get you that much in terms of Japan-orientated games?

I would say that this extends to all products in Japan. If there is no distinct need for a feature, or if what is available locally, why bother buying American/European/Chinese/etc brands? The Japanese companies in every industry (cars, computers, electronic toilets, food) provide what they need at decent prices and they really see no need to look at products from elsewhere.

In fact, the only industries I can think of where they buy in quantity from overseas are a) Defense and b) Operating systems (the Windows division at Microsoft should be proud). In both these areas, there is demonstrable American superiority to indigenous Japanese products. Their new Guided missile destroyers: American designed, + outfit. Their F-2 fighters: Lockheed Martin. Their dream jet fighter: The F-22, Lockheed Martin.

( There is European superiority also, such as helicopters a la Eurocopter).

It's not really xenophobia but a deep cultural divide. It would take to long for me to get into it, but as someone born and raised in Hong Kong, even I don't completely always get the local Chinese culture. The sense of humor is totally different, sarcasm/satire is barely understood by locals. Add to that, I don't get why local SE Asians relate to exaggerated features in animated characters. Quite often in HK, our govt., PSA use animated animals, or bizarre comic situations that to foreigners - myself included since I went to a British school here - that just doesn't make sense. Think about those animated Taiwanese news clips. Also the sexual maturity with locals is completely different: it's not that they're conservative, but rather, almost ignorant and naive, partly due to lack of education and an openness between locals.When 'westerners' use a 'conservative' as a blanket word for East Asian cultural differences, the problem is it dumbs down the significant deeper differences. And Japan is even more 'conservative' then the Taiwanese, HK, Chinese counterparts. There is a big difference in language, humor, etc., that the divide can't be crossed just by translation alone. Which neatly brings me to the next part

I appreciate the insight. I only visited for a month. So, obviously, my experiences are limited.

I'd love to see Splinter Cell have an Indian protagonists, instead of Sam Fisher, maybe Apu Krishna; but I'm a self loathing-Indian and I'd be waiting for some spy gadget I'm carrying to inevitably fail, or that some levels would just require me to bribe myself through it instead of using stealth or guns.

That would be an interesting mod for an Unreal game. While I think you have a valid point as far as it goes. A lot of FPS usually have the main character and NPCs in a future time/somewhere in space thereby avoiding architectural and some cultural differences (although there is going to be some leakage, humans just can't help it). But in a video game it is easier to change things like character model, voice, environment etc for translation or simply avoidance some of the trigger issues.

Room size alone doesn't explain why the XBox didn't sell well to begin with, but it's a pretty valid reason for Kinect to not change that: I lived in Japan for a year, and i've seen houses the width of a car, houses with car raisers (like you'd see on a mechanic) so that they could park 2 of them at home, many friends didn't have beds because futons can be put away to make use of the room during the day... issues we're really not used to in the west.

Saying that it's xenophobia behind that unpopularity is somewhat insulting to me as well. If anything, young japanese people (you know, the target audience for most games) like the west a little too much. Plenty of disney's characters are more popular there than in Europe, even though there's no shortage of mascots, manga and anime of Japanese origin; they go to McDonalds too much, even though there's a Japanese (better, but more expensive) hamburger chain as well; they add meaningless english words to their songs' lyrics just because it sounds cool; the iPhone, despite Japan's cell phones being among the best in the world, seems to be quite popular just like the iPod was.

Personally, I think that I was treated a lot better by the japanese people than they would treat fellow japanese. I'm not saying that some japanese people aren't xenophobic -- but most of those people don't own a PS3 either.

In fact, the only industries I can think of where they buy in quantity from overseas are a) Defense and b) Operating systems (the Windows division at Microsoft should be proud). In both these areas, there is demonstrable American superiority to indigenous Japanese products. Their new Guided missile destroyers: American designed, + outfit. Their F-2 fighters: Lockheed Martin. Their dream jet fighter: The F-22, Lockheed Martin.

( There is European superiority also, such as helicopters a la Eurocopter).

I'm not entirely sure on the accuracy of this, but after the Japanese surrendered at the end of WWII, part of the peace agreement was that Japan would not invest in military technology nor have a standing army. I think that's the reason why there are US bases in Japan. I'm not sure how long the treaty was, or if it's still standing, but what are the chances of military technological superiority if Japan could invest in it? America spends the equivalent of something like the top 20 military budgets in the world combined (don't quote me on that, but the number was something absurd), so you'd figure the US would eventually dominate in military technology with a brute spending budget philosophy.

Ummmm... that's not the point. I've bought or played with products made in Japan/China that have loosely translated english manuals, and it's an excercise in frustration to understand them sometimes. I can't imagine what it's like vice versa for American products with Japanese/Chinese translations.Also space constraint plays a big part in product development. East Asian will develop products to be smaller, all in one, as in the case of washing machine/dryer. I used to have one at home, but it wasn't anywhere near as powerful as the American ones I've used while living in the US. We don't have laundromats; everyone has their own washing machine at home. Televisions too. I had to wait for Samsung to release a good quality 32 inch LCD tv that would fit in my living room; but before that it was big heavy plasma tvs that required wall mounts and a drastic change change in the living room furniture. There is a lot more in finding success in the East Asian market. Off course the companies that do well are the ones where the people themselves live and breath East Asia.

Point in case, when I stayed with a friend in Long Beach during spring break. First time I stayed in a two story house with a family of 3. FAMILY OF THREE!!! Was a total trip! I felt so alone in a place so big. I don't think I could ever live in a suburban house. It's just to trippy for my psychology.

Japanese are completely xenophobic, news at eleven. Seriously, if you walk to local taverns in Japan, you'll see signs that basically say, "Westerner's, fuck off". The only welcoming places in Japan to foreigners, are those that are on Main Street, Japan. Is it any wonder that a "Western" console is doing so horribly in Japan?

This might say something more about our own lack of understanding about Japanese culture than *every* Japanese being *completely* xenophobic.

But back to topic, what does xenophobia have anything to do with FPS being unpopular in Japan? I think the reason is that FPS is boring without our worship of firearms (I've said this before). Aim, fire, aim, fire...

I'd love to see Splinter Cell have an Indian protagonists, instead of Sam Fisher, maybe Apu Krishna; but I'm a self loathing-Indian and I'd be waiting for some spy gadget I'm carrying to inevitably fail, or that some levels would just require me to bribe myself through it instead of using stealth or guns.

That would be an interesting mod for an Unreal game. While I think you have a valid point as far as it goes. A lot of FPS usually have the main character and NPCs in a future time/somewhere in space thereby avoiding architectural and some cultural differences (although there is going to be some leakage, humans just can't help it). But in a video game it is easier to change things like character model, voice, environment etc for translation or simply avoidance some of the trigger issues.

Yeah, with games like Unreal Tournament where I can adjust my character's appearance, I tend to try to make him look more like me. I don't really think about why I do it, other then I just tend to prefer him looking like me instead of the stereotype Arnold/Commando/Rambo type. It's total vanity for sure. In Mass Effect 2, The second time I played the game through, I played it as a female character. I wanted to see the lesbian cut away sex scenes.

Japanese are completely xenophobic, news at eleven. Seriously, if you walk to local taverns in Japan, you'll see signs that basically say, "Westerner's, fuck off". The only welcoming places in Japan to foreigners, are those that are on Main Street, Japan. Is it any wonder that a "Western" console is doing so horribly in Japan?

Don't get me wrong. I loved Tokyo when I visited. I just found that the little areas were highly xenophobic. Way more so than other areas of the world I've visited.

edit: By little areas, I mean back alleys that the locals visit. AKA; the norm for peoples' of Japan, rather than visitors.

In over 40 trips to Japan including a LOT of places that see very few Westerner customers, I have never felt unwelcome. Nor have I ever seen such a sign, which strikes me as rude and very un-Japanese.

Many of the nicer Ginza establishments are private clubs, and you need to be taken there by a member. I also have seen "for Japanese only" signs on some of the entrances to baths in the Ueno area, but that's a different issue and pretty specific to the local problem there. I've often stayed with (Japanese) friends over the weekends, and have also stayed at local ryokans and minshuku, so I've been in numerous small local eateries and drinking establishments away from downtown Tokyo.

Maybe you're not actually talking about a tavern, but a location for more personal service, and yes, I've read that some of those don't welcome foreign clientele, although I don't know of my own knowledge. But if you've heard "Westerners, fuck off" in Japan, maybe it's just aimed at you instead of Westerners in general.

I suspect a lot of Microsoft's XBox problem in Japan is that, quite some time ago, XBox became considered "uncool." It's not Japanese xenophobia, but rather that Japan is very fad-driven, and everyone watches what everyone else does and has. Coupled with the very real issue of space in the typical home, and Kinect isn't going to be compelling there as a home device.

In fact, the only industries I can think of where they buy in quantity from overseas are a) Defense and b) Operating systems (the Windows division at Microsoft should be proud). In both these areas, there is demonstrable American superiority to indigenous Japanese products. Their new Guided missile destroyers: American designed, + outfit. Their F-2 fighters: Lockheed Martin. Their dream jet fighter: The F-22, Lockheed Martin.

( There is European superiority also, such as helicopters a la Eurocopter).

I'm not entirely sure on the accuracy of this, but after the Japanese surrendered at the end of WWII, part of the peace agreement was that Japan would not invest in military technology nor have a standing army. I think that's the reason why there are US bases in Japan. I'm not sure how long the treaty was, or if it's still standing, but what are the chances of military technological superiority if Japan could invest in it? America spends the equivalent of something like the top 20 military budgets in the world combined (don't quote me on that, but the number was something absurd), so you'd figure the US would eventually dominate in military technology with a brute spending budget philosophy.

Ummmm... that's not the point. I've bought or played with products made in Japan/China that have loosely translated english manuals, and it's an excercise in frustration to understand them sometimes. I can't imagine what it's like vice versa for American products with Japanese/Chinese translations.Also space constraint plays a big part in product development. East Asian will develop products to be smaller, all in one, as in the case of washing machine/dryer. I used to have one at home, but it wasn't anywhere near as powerful as the American ones I've used while living in the US. We don't have laundromats; everyone has their own washing machine at home. Televisions too. I had to wait for Samsung to release a good quality 32 inch LCD tv that would fit in my living room; but before that it was big heavy plasma tvs that required wall mounts and a drastic change change in the living room furniture. There is a lot more in finding success in the East Asian market. Off course the companies that do well are the ones where the people themselves live and breath East Asia.

Point in case, when I stayed with a friend in Long Beach during spring break. First time I stayed in a two story house for a family of 3. FAMILY OF THREE!!! Was a total trip! I felt so alone in a place so big. I don't think I could ever live in a suburban house. It's just to trippy for my psychology.

I'm not quite sure who you're replying to with what, but..

My point is sort of what you made, i.e. through brute force spending alone the USA is able to create (military) products that are better than local Japanese products. And indeed due to Constitutional restrictions and the such, the Japanese don't invest *that much* in their military. But my point was that as there is indeed a demonstrable advantage to buying American in this case, so they will, and do buy American. Their mostly home grown or military products, or indeed their licensed-but-made-in-Japan military products tend to be horrifically expensive for what they are.

But in the home arena, there is no real advantage to buying oversea brand products, and I think because that they are satisfied with Japanese brands they see no reason to even consider, for example, a Ford Fiesta when a Toyota Corolla is absolutely fine. Their Sanyo washing machine fits their needs absolutely fine so there is no point even bothering to take a look at some General Electric gigawatt gulping beast.

So indeed, I think we are sort of saying the same point, that the foreign products that are successful give them, the Japanese, something that they want but the local manufacturers cannot provide, i.e my examples of Windows, defense technology, etc. Even the iPhone, it is selling well because it gives something that the Japanese want that their manufacturers don't give, so the Japanese will happily buy it.

(Generally manuals translated into Japanese I find to be fine, but Asian languages to English I find generally to be much worse, small anecdotal point..)